Sunday, March 15, 2015

News Links, March 16, 2015

## Global Ponzi meltdown/House of Cards ##Ships Beached for Scrap as Returns Reach Record LowScrap yards are preparing for record numbers of freighters as shipping rates tumble to all-time lows. Owners may demolish 40 million deadweight tons of dry bulk carriers, more than double last year's total, according to Arctic Securities ASA in Oslo. Rates to ship commodities slumped 66 percent last year amid a glut of capacity, the worst performance since the global recession.

The British are hedging their bets regarding which side their bread will be buttered on during the coming decades. -- RF

Rate cuts: 24 so far and there's more to comeAn interest rate cut from South Korea Thursday takes the number of central banks that have stepped up their monetary easing this year to 24 and that number is likely to rise, analysts say.

Investigative reporter James Gordon Meek broke an important story this week: He revealed that U.S.-backed forces in Iraq are committing the same type of horrific war crimes — wanton killings of prisoners, beheadings, torture — as the Islamic State fighters on the other side of the front line.

The Orwellian concept of "information warfare" holds that propaganda can break down enemies and decide geopolitical outcomes, a strategy that has taken hold of the U.S. government's approach to international crises, especially the Ukraine showdown.

By Election Day 2016, taxpayers will have paid out more than $16 million to fund Bill Clinton's pension, travel, office expenses and even the salaries and benefits of staff at his family's foundation, federal records show.

Earlier this week, The Knot revealed the results of its eighth annual Real Weddings Study, and found the average cost of a wedding last year reached an all-time high of $31,213, excluding the honeymoon.